The dawn of the dusk
by ReplicaRiku'sgirl
Summary: A teen outsider found herself in the middle of an endless war between harmony and discord. She meets friends and foes on the way. Once she returns back home, will she forget the people she met? Warning: slow beginning. Read 'The dawn of the darkness' too
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Only Square Enix does.**

The wind blows harshly against the unconscious figure lying on the floor. The long dark-haired figure stirs from the cold and slowly raises its head to observe its surroundings. You can tell by the tan skin the person has been out in the sun. She shivers and pulls the clothing closer to her body. Wait, she doesn't recognize these. A strapless v-neck that showed little of her midriff, black carpris passed her ankles, and a silky scarf wrapped around her waist. Occasionally the teenager spots gems of various colors on her clothes and messy hair. A wrinkled jacket lay down on the ground where her person was. She sighs. _'Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers.'_

She lifts her head even higher then looks at her surroundings and noticed there is a decrepit castle that is ready to fall apart with raspberry color sky from above. A feeling rushes to her senses, but what is the word to describe it? Eerie? No, there is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, she found it more like…intriguing. Power radiates from it even though it is ancient. Curiosity getting the better of her, the dark-haired girl head towards it. Seeing she have some time before she gets there, her mind wanders while her body turns into auto pilot.

* * *

The woman sat down on remains of a cut-out bowl sensed two new energies. One with her warriors but doesn't seem too happy to see them while the other held brighter than the former, and yet, heading towards Chaos' Shrine. But both of them are very powerless against Chaos' warriors. There's nothing she can do but wait and watch Fate unfold for these two lives. Her warriors may gain two allies or two enemies or just an ally and an enemy. Regardless of the alliance outcome, she hopes everything will turn out for the best to save the worlds.

* * *

Standing right in front of her is a huge door. Good thing she stopped once she snapped out of her trance while she can. Judging from its texture, the door must be heavy and she knew her strength alone isn't strong enough to budge it. Her fingers lightly trace over it, committing it to memory.

Her sensitive hearing could pick up voices, none of which sounds friendly to her. It is hard to tell how many there are, since they argue like a volleyball pass over the net. "Silence." A male voice ordered. This one, she could tell, held regal tone. He could possibly be a king, duke, or even a noble. "It appears we have unwanted guest." Each of them reacted differently. Some laughed menacingly; others chuckled amusingly, while remaining are silent.

All of a sudden, it grew too quiet, and the female teenager didn't like this. The first thing she noticed was black and purple swirling around her feet. She backs up away from the door and a huge explosion crumbled it to pieces while that black and purple thing turned into a geyser. She raises her arms to shield her face from the pebbles and dust flown in her way.

The girl lowered her shield and took in a better view of the interior. Eight people stood in front of her. Three armors, a woman nearly naked with two yellow creatures, another woman with markings and clothing made out of feathers, a guy that looks like the clown, a bearded man with scars on his body and a black symbol with some kind of shoulder armor on his left side that reminded her of talons, some sort of guy dressed in demon clad armor.

One of them chuckled. "I wonder how long you will last." A cold shiver ran down her spine. She was so focused that she didn't realize another one was standing close to her and out of her range. Two in armor clad joined what she assume is a guy and made a semicircle around her. The one in black armor changes his posture that it was hardly noticeable. That small gesture made her ambivalent towards this one. The other one, she glances to that helmet which reminded her of a skull, made her absolutely positive he's evil. Her eyes finally laid on the last one. He has funny looking attire and even stranger features such as the feather appearance on the head. Though, the white orbs gave her a hint he's a magic user and so far she seen this man has a pretty face.

"Let me make music with this stray." There are many possibilities to interpret this. The clown cackles from his place. Just listening to him makes her want to swipe that smirk off his face. The third armor clad covered in light cyan and the woman with two yellow heads looked bored but she could tell the woman is slightly interested. She turns her head to the other woman and don't see anything that shows she cares about either of them. Judging from his eyes and the eight other members, he wants to fight her!

Two armor clad glanced at each other and nodded as they walked away, allowing room for both her and her opponent. "Before we begin," he lifts an eyebrow, "may I ask your name?" He paused before answering. "Kuja." A sword appears in her hand then she blinks in surprise. He smirks then whispers inaudible for her to hear.

_"O Divine Amaryllis. Let your crimson petals fall."_

* * *

A/N: Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

N/A: I'm so excited for Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy after watching it on TGS '10. Somehow I predicted Tifa and Yuna would be in there.

* * *

The goddess of harmony watches the younger of the two who is reading a book of spells. The anger and irritation towards her warriors vanishes as a spark of interest appears in her eyes. The scene changes to the elder. To her great horror, one of Chaos' warriors left no room for her to defend or fight back. Cosmos watches her helplessly from her half glass bowl. She knew she can't intervene or her warriors will have shorter limit than given already. "Please stay alive." She prayed.

* * *

Her aching back hits a solid object. Thankfully, it's the flattest object, comparing to the pillars and statues Kuja's powers hit her against earlier. Apparently her opponent looks like he's going to stop after one colleague's mild complaint of rubble he's leaving behind.

"By Terra, just what kind of being are you?" She lifted her head.

"Huh?" She didn't see that coming.

"You should be dead by now." He explained shortly.

She looked down at herself. Her clothes are torn up, bloodied, and singed to nonexistence but her flesh wound replenish slowly back without any scars. She looks back at her opponent. "I honestly don't know."

He grabbed her by the collar and tossed her like a rag doll. She grunted. He flew back to his group. "What a drama king." She muttered once he was out of earshot. Blood loss began to affect her vision impairment. Even though her body looks unscathed, her own body is giving her signals she's not doing so well. Kuja was moving his lips but she couldn't make out what he's saying.

A black figure moves towards her. Her first instinct was fight or flight but she knew she cannot escape against nine powerful warriors unscathed. Well, from her sorry physical state anyway. She glares weakly at this armor clad warrior. At the top of her mind is her end then it drifts off to her family at home. "S-sister..." He halted and this time, it was more visible than the previous one and with more surprise. There was a long silence both between her and him and his cohorts amongst themselves. She's sure they saw him spooked but she knows so very little of this universe. She realized how tall this man is, and yet, he doesn't seem intimidating to her. Normally, she would feel timid but his helm made it easier for her. "You are... different." "Likewise." He replied back. He lifted his hand to his cape and she watches him carefully. "Trust me on this." He whispers lowly for only her to hear and she nod once. She closes her eyes from awareness of motion around her.

* * *

She opens one eye and then another. She squeals quietly to herself as there were shelves and shelves of books against the wall. The girl looks for something to insert between books while she's reading but found nothing but her sash. She puts her sash in between books and pulls out one about time and another of mythology she has never heard of. Soon enough, her sash began to weave through books as the ones she pulled out stack into columns. It took her four hours after reading weaponry to figure out two days has gone by and there was still no sign of the armor-clad man. "Glad you found this place to your liking." A familiar voice reaches her ears and she turns her head to find the armored man had returned. She was about to open her mouth but he silenced her. "Here." She looks down at his large palm was her glasses. She puts them on and muttered a quiet, "Thank you." He nodded. "Umm..." "Golbez." He informed her. She had a closer look and his armor had other colors such as blue, white, and gold. Being so small, she was easily convinced his armor was only black. The horn like shape on his shoulder feels like she'll see that again.

"Do you know anything at all?" It seems friendlier than an interrogation based on his tone.

"Very little." She replied.

"The fate of this universe is determined by a war's outcome."

"Indeed." He agreed. "There are two sides: those who fight to see destruction and those who fight to return to their world."

She understood all of this except... "I know there's such thing as shaded grey, but what is your reason?" Golbez was about to respond when he heard footsteps towards their location and he tensed slightly, thinking it might be a warrior of Chaos. She turns her head in suit. The weight pressure against the floor tells her it isn't light as a thief or heavy as a warrior in armor.

Within a few moments, a teenage girl cautiously poked her head past a bookshelf to observe the strangers. She immediately noticed they had already noticed her by their heads turned in her direction and upon seeing the tall man in armor, she instantly retreated back behind the thin safety of the bookshelf.  
She smiles and walks over to her with some room between them. "Come out. We won't hurt you." She cooed like she's talking to a toddler.

"Hmph." The voice responded with a sharp edge. "Others have made that unconscious promise and have broken it before."

"Sorry," she looked at her sadly, knowing those kind of types of people, "I'm just excited to see a friendly face for once. Hi, I'm Lauren and this is Golbez." She points to the armored one behind her.

The younger girl looked at the other cautiously, listening carefully to her tone of voice. After realizing that she was telling the truth, she relaxed slightly, but not all the way. "Amanda." She told her with a slight nod in greeting.

"So umm... Amanda, why were you hiding?" She asks while wringing her top in her hands nervously.

"Well, I don't know about you, but from where I come, there aren't people wearing a full suit of armor."

She laughs. "I know what you mean. I've seen others with him and his attire seem like the closest to normal."

She lightly scratched part of her chin as she looked at the one in armor. "Hm, come to think of it, I did see someone wearing armor kinda like his, just smaller and not as many spikes."

The armored one spoke up. "You mean my brother, Cecil."

She nodded. "That's his name, forgot it. Was never really much good at remembering names."

"Me too." She grinned. "My memory is horrible unless there's something unique about the person."

"Well, the people around here seem to be really different from the ones from my world."

"Mine too."

* * *

She turns her head to the armored one and his body language shows that he knows something she does not. "What is it?"

"Your friend isn't someone who wishes to be on Cosmos' side."

The girl in question's eyes darkened and she crossed her arms over her chest, tensing slightly more. "What of it?" She quickly ducked out of the way as a large rock flew through the air where she just was. "The hell was that for?" She exclaimed to Golbez.

"Just testing your reflexives." He responded calmly.

"Are you kidding me?" She continued yelling at him. "That could've killed me!"

The older girl hugs her protectively from the armored one, both to protect her from him and to keep her at bay. "So what? Sides don't matter to me." She said.

She blinked silently at the older girl, not used to receiving this amount of affection from even her closest friends.

He, in turn, has gotten a little stiffer, recognizing the gesture as one a sibling might use to protect the other from something. She turns her head to the younger one with confusion on her face. "What is Golbez talking about?"

She shrugged. "I can't stand most of the so-called 'heroes'. They don't act serious enough for their mission."

She shrugged back, never have met them before and have no say in this.

She gestured to the arms wrapped around her, feeling awkward in the embrace. "Why are you hugging me?"

"I have no idea. I've been asking myself the same question with my sisters." She replies as she lets go.

"But they are familiar to you. Do you normally go around hugging complete strangers?"

"Nope." She had a thoughtful look on her face with her head tilted and a finger to her lips. "Guess I was caught up in the moment."

She raised an eyebrow, not understanding how that would make her hug a stranger.

"Then again, my family does think I'm weird."

* * *

She started to get bored and sat down to read.

She sat down by her with her legs tucked beneath her and picked up a book from the pile she had already read about mythology.

Golbez sighed. "Do you two girls realize what sort of danger you're in?"

The dark-haired one lifts her eyes from her book.

The red-headed one pushed her glasses, which had fallen a bit, back up her nose. "This seems like a relatively safe place, though."

"Then again, we are new and someone might think we are useful or useless." She explained to her friend as she waved her hand in dismissal.

"How would we be useful to them?"

"There's a war going on and I think they want to recruit us into their side."

"Why us? I'm not sure about you, but I'm pretty weak."

"Same here." She beamed. "I got whooped against Kuja and still here." Her face turn stern. "The ones who were watching us are serious about this."

She frowned. "They must see something in us that we can't."

"Amanda, ever heard of tales of Chaos and Cosmos?" The warlock asks her.

She pushed her glasses up again by the bottom of the frame. "Chaos is the lord of discord, but can be used to describe when things go to heck. Cosmos is what could be considered as good, but can also mean the depths of starry space."

He nodded. "Chaos, the god of discord, primarily recruits those who caused destruction to their own world. Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, recruits at least one hero who have faced their adversary to counter it."

The red head scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I don't count under either of those categories. Though, if I could fall under either, I probably wouldn't be a hero since I'm insanely timid when it comes to dealing with problems, especially if I don't have a companion to help me with it."

"Me too. I'm timid when it comes to problem solving." Her back straightens up. "Yeah, why bother sending two teenage girls when they have zip experience of combat?" The dark haired added.

"Maybe they want us for our knowledge." The red head suggested.

He crossed his arms. "It's your characteristics. They will change the tide in a heartbeat."

The younger one tilted her head. "Why would our characteristics change a war?"

"I think hatred is considered as evil so it must be with Chaos' forces and something like love is good so that means it is Cosmos'." The dark haired one elaborated.

"But all of the people on either side must have those characteristics, so why should we be able to make any difference?"

Lauren glances over to Golbez. "Golbez was with them but he reacted when I said, 's-sister,' so these family ties means a lot to him."

"Well, I have an older brother and I imagine that Cecil looks up to him like I with mine."

"I wonder why..." The dark haired muttered to herself.

"Why what?" She asked.

"Someone who is on the destructive side wishes to aid the protectors."

She shrugged. "He must have his reasons."

He nodded in agreement to the youngest.

"Then what are they?" She asked.

The middle one could feel uneasiness from the man and waves her hand to drop the subject.

She obeyed her.

* * *

She starts putting away her books.

The youngest of the group helped her.

"I'll look for this 'Cosmos' deity." She turned her head to the redhead. "Wanna come?"

He leaves the girls alone to their adventure while he has serious consequences coming in his way, probably from the Emperor.

She shrugged. "I guess. It's not like I have much else to do, but I won't be in a good mood if we come across her warriors."

"I've seen nine of Chaos' so I'll help you steer from them."

"I saw ten of Cosmos's warriors."

She tilts her head in confusion. "You don't like them but still go with me to see their leader?"

She crossed her arms against her chest. "As I said, I don't have much else to do and I prefer having someone else with me in an unfamiliar place."

"Sorry."

* * *

The world changes into a light grey sky as Lauren traveled with her companion and the floor looks like water but it isn't soaking into her shoes. Up ahead she could feel something pure and walks towards it. Two green streams stood on the opposite sides that reminded her of skateboarding rail even though she never tried it. No hostility in this environment and tiredness began to kick into gear as she yawned.

The younger one snapped out of staring into space as she walked when she heard her yawn. "You alright?"

"So..." another yawn came, "...tired."

"Then you should rest."

"What if Chaos' warriors come here?" She asks worriedly.

"It seems too peaceful for them to come here." She said as she looked around.

She lies down on the floor, using one arm as a pillow.

The redhead sat down next to her, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees.

Her eyelids are growing heavy, and heavier by the minute.

She mumbled softly as she buried her eyes into her knees to hide them from the light.

Meanwhile, a warrior watched the two girls from a distance. Drawn to his current position from afar due to a couple of new presences in this never-ending war, he had decided to see if the new ones were anything special. He looked at them the same way he had done so many times in his past life with various soldiers hoping to find fame. "Hm, weak at the moment, but with the proper training..."

The weary goddess peers through her mirror that shows at the borderline between hers and the next world. Two girls rested with intention to get some sleep. Something felt off and it wasn't the young ones. The scene changes to a silver haired warrior of Chaos. There was a long scabbard strapped to the right side of his hip. Cloud said his name was Sephiroth, she recalled. Puzzled about what his intentions are or how he wandered to here is a mystery to even a goddess herself.

Sephiroth took one last glance at the sleeping girls before teleporting away, pondering on how he could use them to his advantage without alerting the other Chaos warriors to his intentions.


End file.
